PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County’s Board of Commissioners would prefer to have opioid settlement funds in the county rather than through a regional administrator created as part of the lawsuit.
At their meeting Monday, commissioners told Salish Behavioral Health Administrative Services Organization administrator Stephanie Lewis they’d like to see settlement money distributed directly to the county, potentially to continue funding the Behavioral Health Consortium’s work in opioid abatement programs.
Jefferson County is expecting to receive annual payments of more than $30,000 for the next 17 years as part of a settlement between the state and opioid manufacturers McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation.
In October, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Washington would receive a maximum of $518 million from the three companies, which were found to have played a role in fueling a nationwide opioid epidemic.
“I think that the 17 years of $30,000 a year should be enough to staff the BHC,” said District 3 Commissioner Greg Brotherton, noting that funds for other settlements could be used for additional opioid abatement work.
The Port Orchard-based Salish BHASO is contracted with both Jefferson and Clallam counties to help administer funds from various settlements related to opioid manufacturers and distributors and which must be used on a range of programs aimed at opioid abatement.
Salish BHASO has already received two payments of $34,504 and $36,262 on Jefferson County’s behalf, and Lewis told commissioners Monday she expected subsequent payments to be similar amounts.
Lewis said Clallam and Kitsap counties — the other counties working with Salish BHASO — have also expressed a desire to use their settlement money locally rather than pooling funds for services across the region.
Jefferson County’s Behavioral Health Consortium was created in 2019 and funded by grants, but its funding is set to expire in August, Brotherton said. Commissioners suggested using the funds from the distributor settlement to allow the BHC to continue its work and collaboration with the county’s Behavioral Health Advisory Committee, which works more directly on program implementation.
Commissioners discussed splitting the funds between the BHC and the advisory committee.
“Even if it were just something where all these same players came together, that is a huge benefit for the county,” said Denise Banker, community health director with Jefferson County Public Health. “I could see this $30,000 a year being enough to staff something like that.”
Public Health Director Apple Martine told commissioners it would serve the county well to bolster pre-existing programs already running.
Lewis said the Salish BHASO will have to approve Jefferson County’s proposal, and that likely won’t happen until May.
The state is also involved in negotiating a settlement with several pharmacy chains including Walgreens, CVS and Walmart. Washington has also received money in separate settlements with Mallinckrodt and Oxycontin manufacturer Purdue Pharma, which filed for bankruptcy in 2019, according to the Attorney General’s office.
Peninsula Daily News reported in October that, as a result of the distributors’ settlement, Jefferson County will receive a total of $7.6 million and Clallam County $3.8 million.
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsuladailynews.com.
